First shipment of Apple's iPhone X limited to just 46,500 units
Apple's main assembly partner, Foxconn, recently sent out its first shipment of the iPhone X -- but that batch included just 46,500 units, according to one report.
The units traveled from Zhengzhou and Shanghai to the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates, said China's Xinhuanet.com, quoted by DigiTimes. Both of those countries are among the 50-plus markets where Apple will launch the iPhone X on Nov. 3.
Foxconn has allegedly ramped up its production from 100,000 units per week to 400,000, but that number is unlikely to match demand even with the phone's $999 pricetag. Sales of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus have been softer than past iPhone launches, likely because the people who can afford an X are waiting to buy one or at least see reviews. Preorders start on Oct. 27.
A string of reports have indicated that the main production obstacle is the TrueDepth camera, which handles tasks like Face ID and animoji. Most recently Nikkei narrowed the issue down to the dot projector, which casts over 30,000 points of light on a person's face in order to generate a depth map.
Analyst forecasts have called for iPhone X shipments to slot between 30 million and 36 million in 2017, and hinted that supply won't match demand until sometime next year. That could translate into weeks- or months-long shipping delays within minutes of preorders starting.
The units traveled from Zhengzhou and Shanghai to the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates, said China's Xinhuanet.com, quoted by DigiTimes. Both of those countries are among the 50-plus markets where Apple will launch the iPhone X on Nov. 3.
Foxconn has allegedly ramped up its production from 100,000 units per week to 400,000, but that number is unlikely to match demand even with the phone's $999 pricetag. Sales of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus have been softer than past iPhone launches, likely because the people who can afford an X are waiting to buy one or at least see reviews. Preorders start on Oct. 27.
A string of reports have indicated that the main production obstacle is the TrueDepth camera, which handles tasks like Face ID and animoji. Most recently Nikkei narrowed the issue down to the dot projector, which casts over 30,000 points of light on a person's face in order to generate a depth map.
Analyst forecasts have called for iPhone X shipments to slot between 30 million and 36 million in 2017, and hinted that supply won't match demand until sometime next year. That could translate into weeks- or months-long shipping delays within minutes of preorders starting.
Comments
Ohs well. It'll arrive when it arrives, I reckon.
All this report does is create FUD about the amount of iPhone X's Apple will have in stock.
A far better title would tie the word limited to countries instead of units. First day orders of new apple products are generally shipped directly to customers from China. I'm certain they have a heck of a lot more than 45k units boxed and ready to ship.
Rob's point and question is fair, this seems like an empty FUD headline. A non-clickbait headline would have cited First "regional" shipment, etc.. This one seems designed to mislead RSS feeders into believing there are only 46,000 units for everyone at launch. It's unnecessarily vague.
What sites like AI will not admit to is that while the headline is technically true, it's prominent placing and the upcoming release of the iPX is meant to give the impression that there is a major problem with the number of units being manufactured and creating fear/concern. Baiting for the sake of clicks.
They're all so gullable !
regurgitatedcoprolite said:
Since then, I've gotten my home computing done on the MacBook Pro, two iPads, and iPhone 5 and 5S. Inflation has occurred since then, and now I can buy a pocket stuporcomputer for less jack than those desk/laptops. Quite a bargain, I'd type. (Although I may just still be rationalizing my iPhone X extravagance.)